Fire and Ice
by MikkiDoodle
Summary: Aoi Kasumi is an eighteen year old ninja from the Hidden Rock village. When an failed assasination attempt on the Tsuchikage has her running from the village, the Akatsuki, a group of rougue ninjas, asks her to join them.. summary continued inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Aoi Tsugari is an eighteen year old ninja from the Hidden Rock village. When an failed assasination attempt on the Tsuchikage has her running from the village. But when the Akatsuki, a well known group of rougue ninjas, wants her to join them, she agrees. With this new life, can she find peace, a new home, and perhaps a romance? Itachi x OC or Deidara x OC**

_AN : Hey guys, I decided to re-post this, but I changed it a bit. Well, not the chapters I had posted before, but what I had planned to happen has changed. There is going to be a poll up on my profile, and you can vote whether you want Aoi to fall in love with Itachi, or Deidara. By the way, there will be a slight lemon in chapter five. Not really a lemon but... well, you'll see!_

Chapter one.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice ringing out into the darkness of the forest. They stayed silent, just standing there staring at me. One was a blonde, with a ponytail. The other had short black hair, with an orange mask over his face. Strangely, there was only one eyehole.  
"I said, who are you?" I repeated. I bent into my fighting stance, reaching to my side to grasp at my katana that was in it's sheath.  
"Deidara-senpai, are you going to answer her?" The one named 'Deidara', looked at the other one with a look of agitation on his face.  
"Shut up Tobi."  
"H-hai.." Tobi stuttered, then looked down at the ground.  
"Deidara, eh? I think I've heard the name before." I grinned. I pulled the blade slowly from the sheath. "Are you going to fight me, or what? Isn't that what you're here for?" My name was Aoi Kasumi. A highly skilled Jounin from the Hidden Rock village. A few days ago I attempted an assasination of the Tsuchikage, but I'd failed when his guards saw me, so I had to flee. I've been wandering away from the Earth Country for a few days, not quite knowing where I was going to go.  
I glanced at Deidara's headband, and gasped. The symbol on it was definitely hidden rock, but there was a broad line slashed across it.  
'Hidden rock, eh?' I thought to myself.  
"No... we're not here to fight you. We're here by command from the Akatsuki leader, Pain. He wants you to join the Akatsuki." Deidara stood still, his hands in his cloak. I could tell he was up to something.  
"Why does your leader want me? I'm not a very good ninja..." Actually, I was. And I knew it. The whole village used to praise me, until I started bailing out on missions.. never showing up for anything.. They started to wonder what was happening.. until I tried to kill our leader. Then they realized I betrayed them. The people of the Hidden Rock now put a bounty on my head. They wanted me dead, all because I tried to kill their precious Kage.  
"He has heard about you. He had often spoken of going to retrive you, long before you tried to kill the Kage of Hidden Rock." Deidara made a face. "But instead of Pain-sama going himself, he made me go. And he made me bring this idiot along with me!" Deidara grumbled, pointing his finger at the still sulking Tobi. At this outburst, Tobi looked up.  
"Deidara-senpai, stop being so mean!" He wailed.  
"I can see what you mean..." I snickered. Then I stopped smiling, and hoped my face looked serious. "Fine, I'll make you a deal.. We fight. If I win, you have to go back to... wherever you go, without me. If you win, I will come with you back to your leader without any complaints." Deidara smiled widely. "I was hopeing you would say that..." He said. Then he pulled his hand back through the sleeve of his arm, and opened his hand. From his palm he produced five little figurines in the shape of a spider.  
'Clay...' I thought in my head. 'What is he going to do with little figurines'  
"Heh... I hope you're ready for my art." Deidara chuckled. He then threw the little clay figures at me, and made a sign with his hands. "Katsu!" He shouted. The small clay things exploded, sending me flying backwards. I hit a tree, gasping as pain shot through my body. I furrowed my eyesbrows as I ignored the pain and stood up. I swayed a few times, before regaining my balance.  
"What was that?" I said to myself. I pulled my katana completely out of it's sheath, and held it out in front of me. "That was the art of my exploding clay. Like it?" Deidara chuckled to himself. I laughed. "Who would like any art like that? It's worthless..." Deidara's face become angry as I finished my sentance.  
"I'll kill you if you say that again." He growled. I smirked.  
"Alright then... Your art is worthless. What are you going to do about it?" "This." He said simply. Deidara pulled his arm into his cloak, then pulled it back out. Like before, from his palm came slay figureines, but this time they were in the shape of a bird. They were bigger this time.  
"Bigger they are, bigger the explosion..." I thought. I took a few steps back, waiting for him to attack.  
"You'll like these ones Aoi... Katsu!" Deidara yelled, throwing them at me before they exploded. This time, I was ready. Just before the force of the blow hit me, I jumped out of the way into a tree. I looked around wildly, hoping to spot him before he could attack. Suddenly, something hit me in the back of the head. My vision blurred, and I fell from the tree. Just before I hit the round, someone caught me in mid and then laid me gently down.  
"You need to pay attention more..." He muttered under his breath. That was the last thing I heard before everything went black...


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing I heard when I woke up was, "Are you sure you didn't kill her?" It was an unfamiler voice, but then I heard another. It was soft and gentle.  
"She's fine. I examined her. Just a lump on the back of the head where Deidara hit her..."  
'Deidara...' The name bounced around in my mind. Where was he? I still needed to get back at him for hitting me in the head.  
I opened my eyes, then groaned. Sunlight that was streaming in through the window was shining right on my face. Talk about a nice way to wake up.  
I looked around the room, at all of the unfamilar faces that were all staring at me like they new me. They were all strangers, I had never met any of them before. Yet, they all had the same look on their faces. The only ones who didn't have that look was Deidara, who was a few feet behind everyone, grumbling to himself. And a dark haired male, standing in the corner. His eyes were pitch black, and when Tobi shouted, "Look, she's awake!", he glanced over at me. Our eyes locked, then I looked down, not able to keep eye contact with the stranger.  
Someone placing their hand on my shoulder made me jump'  
"Hello Aoi." I looked up and saw an orange haired guy with many peircings. He looked dangerous, so I was assuming that this was Pain, their leader. "I'm Pain." Heh... I was right. I nodded, not wanting to say anything. Pain gestured to a woman standing beside him. She was pretty, with dark blue hair and purple eyes. A paper rose was placed neatly in her hair.  
"This is Konan. And this is Zetsu, Kisame, and Sasori." He said, pointing to the trio standing slightly behind him. One had short red hair, the other looked like a shark, and the other, well... he looked like a plant. "You already know Tobi and Deidrara..." Pain looked around, and then finally noticed Itachi. "Oh yes, and this is Itachi." "Hello..." I greeted them all in a hesitant voice. Konan laughed.  
"Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you. You are like family to us now." Her warm smile made me feel a bit better. "Family..." I trailed off, lost in thought. My real parents had died when I was little. I had been left in the care of my elderly grandmother, who died when I was eight. I was then left to take care of myself, but that wasn't a problem. I was always training, and some even talked about how they wouldn't be surprised if I became the Tsuchikage. I didn't listen to them though. I never wanted to become the leader of an entire village, it was too much of a responsibility.  
I was snapped out of my thoughts by someone waving their hand in front of my face.  
"Aoi... you ok?" Tobi asked.  
"Yeah, just fine." I stood up, but a little bit too fast. I got head rush, plus I just realized my head was throbbing.  
"Ugh..." I groaned, then pressed my fingers to my temples to try and ease the pain.  
"What's wrong?" Pain asked, placing his hand on my shoulder.  
"Headache..." I muttered. Pain turned and looked at Sasori.  
"Sasori, can you go and get Aoi some painkillers for her head?"  
"Right away, Pain-sama." Sasori glided through the door, which I presumed was the kitchen.  
"Thanks for the headache, Deidara..." I mumbled. He turned around abruptly, hearing my comment.  
"Shut up!" He spat. "We made a deal. You win, I'd leave you alone. I win, you come with me. And I won."  
I rolled my eyes.  
"Well you didn't have to hit me in the head. Next time fight like a real ninja." I shot back. "You could have killed me!"  
"Too bad I didn't..." He muttered just loud enough that I could hear him.  
"Take that back you-" "Enough you two!" Kisame complained. "You're starting to give ME a headache!" He grumbled to himself for a moment before strolling out of the room. I sighed, then sat down on the couch with my arms crossed. Moments later, Sasori came back with two pills and a glass of water.  
"Here." He handed them to me. "Thanks." I put the pills in my mouth then took a long drink, swallowing the pills.  
"Now..." Pain said. "We must get things ready for you. First, is your Akatsuki cloak." Pain handed me a black cloak that had red clouds on them. Everyone else in the room was wearing one. "And Konan will show you to your room." Pain moved to the side so that Konan could step forward. I stood up, then Konan grabbed me by the arm and led me down the hallway.  
"It's about time we had another girl join. I'm tired of being the only girl..." She sighed. "But now that you're here, I think things are going to get less boring for me." Konan gave me a warm smile, and I couldn't help smiling back. Finally, we stopped in front of the last door in the hallway. "And this.. is your new bedroom." She said as she opened the door. I looked around at the room. There were only a few things lying around the room. One stood out among others. A three bladed scythe.  
"Ugh... Tobi was supposed to dispose of that..." Konan murmered. She looked back to me. "Sorry about the messiness, and the smell..." She wrinkled her nose. "This room belonged to Hidan, one of our former members. He wasn't too keen on keeping his room clean."  
"What happened to him?" I asked.  
"He was killed by some kid from the Konoha village. His partner, Kakuzu, also died." Konan went over and grabbed the weapon, then took it out in the hall. "Oh yes, that reminds me. Remind me to tell Pain that we need to figure out who your partner will be. That is, if you want one? Zetsu prefers to travel alone, so..." Konan paused outside the door before yelling, "Tobi, come and get Hidan's scythe and dispose of it like I asked you two months ago!"  
"Yeah... I guess. I wouldn't mind working with the other members." I replied. I heard footsteps running down the hallway, and then Tobi appeared before Konan.  
"Sorry Konan-san." Tobi took the scythe, and was about to walk away, when he noticed me standing in the room. "Hi Aoi-san!" He said before taking off back down the hall. I shook my head.  
"Alright... so I guess I'll leave you to get settled." Konan shut the door behind her. I listened to her footsteps traveling down the hall before collapsing on the bed.  
'Ugh...' I thought. 'What have I gotten myself into?'

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**This chapter is a bit longer. Is the story getting any better? **

**Please review if you like it. :)**

**I might add some more stories after I add a few more chapters to this one. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three.

I woke up the next morning, not knowing where I was. Then the events of yesterday came flooding back into my memories. Oh yes... I was now an Akatsuki member. I put my cloak on over my clothes, then walked out of my room and made my way down the hallway. I could hear voices coming in through the kitchen, so I went through that door.  
Everyone was sitting around the table, but they looked up when I entered.  
"Ah, Aoi. We've figured out who your partner will be. Deidara and Sasori will be together, and Kisame with Tobi. Zetsu travels alone, so that means you and Itachi will be traveling together."  
I glanced over at Itachi, who was sitting at the very end of the table, glaring down at it. I wondered if he was always this way. I looked back at Pain and nodded.  
"Alright." It was silent for a few moments, so I decided to break the tension. "So... what's for breakfast?"  
"Well..." Konan began. "Everyone has already eaten except for you. But Pain has a mission for you two, so you can go to the nearby village and grab something to eat if you want."  
"Mission? Already?" I asked. Pain nodded.  
"Yes. I need you to go to the Konoha village and gather information on the Jinchuriki that lives there. We have been planning on capturing him for some time, but he is very powerful, so if you run into him, watch out. Don't anger him."  
"Naruto Uzumaki..." I heard Itachi growl. It was the first time I had ever heard him speak. "I hate that child..."  
Deidara laughed. "Why Itachi? Get your butt kicked by him? Yeah." Deidara kept on laughing until Itachi shot an icy glare at him. Deidara narrowed his eyes. "Stupid weasel...Hn." He muttered before walking away.  
"Naruto Uzumaki, eh? I think I've heard of him." I sat down at one of the chairs, lost in thought. "He is the nine tails Jichuriki, am I right?" Everyone else nodded. It was silent for the next few moments.  
"Well... I guess I had better go get ready for my first mission as an Akatuski member." I rose from the chair as I spoke, then left the room without another word.  
Back in my room, I looked around, thinking of what I would need.  
"Since we're going to a village, I'm guessing we'll just eat in retaurants for the next few days." I muttered to myself. "All I really need is my katana and my scrolls." I grabbed my katana, which was leaning against the wall oposite the bed, and my scroll pouch. I attatched the scroll pouch to the inside of my cloak, then walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.  
I walked out into the living room, looking for Itachi, to see if he was ready to go. He wasn't in the living room, nor the kitchen.  
"Where is he?" I asked myself.  
"Ready?" A voice from behind me asked. I spun around, and jumped a bit when I saw Itachi standing, arms crossed, against the wall behind me.  
"Where were you? You wern't here a second ago." "Waiting for you to get ready." He said simply.  
"Well I'm ready."  
"Here, you need to wear this when we are traveling in other villages." He said, then handed me a wooden hat, with thin strips of white cloth hanging down around it, so when I put it on, no one could see my face.  
"What's this for?"  
"So people don't reconize us." I shrugged.  
He nodded, then walked towards the front door. I stood still. Itachi opened the door, then turned to see if I was following. "Come on." He motioned with his hand for me to follow...

~ Four days later ~ Itachi and I had finally made it to the Hidden Leaf. It had taken us four days, because Itachi was so slow! I wanted this mission to get over, but he had walked like we had all the time in the world to get there.  
"So what? We are just going to walk right through the gates?" I adjusted my hat.  
"Yes. No one will notice us if we act normally." Itachi walked forward, towards the gates of the village.  
'Whas this a safe thing to do? Just go strolling in when we are one of the most known groups of rougue ninjas out there?' I shook my head. 'Itachi better know what he's doing'  
There were no guards at the gates, so they must have been on break for lunch or something.  
"Where does the Jinchuriki live?" I asked in a soft voice so I would not attract attention.  
"In an apartment across the village." Itachi's voice was even lower then mine. I had to try really hard to hear him.  
"So... what exactly are we trying to find out about him?"  
"Anything. But something we need to try and find out is missions he will be going on soon. That way, when he goes on one, we can wait for him, then capture him when he least expects it."  
We walked through the streets, just acting like we were visitors, inspecting all of the shops.  
"Look." Itachi said quietly. "That's him." I looked up to see an orange hairded kid walking down the street towards us. At this side was a pink haired girl, along with a boy whom had short black hair. The pink haired girl has her arms crossed, looking away from the other two. The two boys were laughing to themselves. Suddenly, the Jinchuriki- Naruto, looked up, and saw us. He must have reconized our cloaks, because he nudged the pick haired girl with his elbow, then pointed at us. I heard her say, "I'll report this to Tsunade-sama.", then ran off. Naruto bit his lip, eyebrows furrowed. By now we were standing close to each other, nearly thirty feet away.  
"Hes going to want to fight, but we can't cause too much of a scene." I nodded slowly, grasping at the katana that was at my hip. "We need to go somewhere far. I don't want to destroy this village." Even though I has killed people before, and was now part of the Akatsuki, didn't mean that I didn't have a heart. If we destroyed this village, many innocent people would die. I didn't want that to happen. A sudden image flashed though my mind.  
"What if we led them to the Valley Of The End? We could fight them there." I said. Itachi pondered on this for a moment. Then nodded.  
"We need to leave before any other ninja can come here. That girl, Sakura, has probably gotten to the administration office by now." 'Sakura... definatly a name I will remember.' I noted in my head. Itachi turned, then leaped onto the roof of one of the shops. I followed swiftly behind. After about a minute, I looked behind me, and saw that Naruto, Sakura, and the other boy, were following not far behind.  
"They're following." I announced.  
"I know." Itachi turned his head slightly to look at me. My eyes widened when I saw that he had the sharingan. Itachi was part of the well known, plus deceased, Uchiha Clan? Then something else hit me. I remembered reading about the Uchiha Clan being massacred five years ago. The only survivor was a young boy named Sasuke Uchiha, plus a missing member, Itachi Uchiha.  
"Hey..." I paused. "When the Uchiha Clan was still around, did you know Sasuke Uchiha?"  
"Yeah..." Itachi trailed off.  
"Who was he?" I asked.  
"My little brother." The tone of his voice made me say nothing after that. His little brother? Then where was Sasuke now? "If you want to know everything, I'll tell you when we are done with this mission."  
"O-OK." I stuttered.

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**How was this chapter? Make sure you review this to give me your feedback! **

**Oh, and would it make the story more interesting if after a while, Deidara started to like Aoi, but she liked Itachi?**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four.

The valley of the end was about a days run from the Hidden Leaf. Every so often, I would check behind me to see if the other three were still following. They were.  
"Stubborn idiots..." I grumbled to myself. Itachi turned his head slightly to look at me.  
"They would follow us even if we were going all the way back to the base." He explained. I bit my lip, then looked back for the second time in a minute. "Why? Wouldn't they wait for backup, knowing we're from the Akatsuki?"  
"Naruto is... a very stubborn guy. But I need to warn you, if he gets to three tails, run."  
"Huh?"  
"You'll understand when it happens."  
I sighed and shrugged, and just continued to run.  
It was about eight hours later when we finally got to the Valley of the End. The Konoha ninjas had followed us, just as Itachi and I hoped they would.  
"When are we going to turn and ambush them?" I asked. Itachi pointed ahead.  
"See those two rocks?" He asked. He had to speak louder then usual because we were nearing a raging waterfall. I looked up, and saw two statues of two people. I wondered who they were.  
"Yeah, what about them?"  
"Once we get to the top of the left one, we'll wait for them to catch up. Then we attack."  
"Ok." I looked back again, and narrowed my eyes. Two others had joined them. One guy with a mask covering half of his face was on one side of the teens, and beside him, was a man with dark brown hair. He had a silver frame around his face. On that was the symbol of the hidden leaf.  
"Great. More interference." Itachi mumbled. "Who are they?"  
"The silver haired man is Kakashi. He's one to watch out for. He has one mangekyo sharingan. The other one is Tenzo. Part of the root ANBU of Konoha. Also known as Yamato."  
"You sure know a lot for being a rouge ninja." I commented. Itachi did say anything.  
"Alright." He said, stopping. I noticed we were now on top of one of the small statues. "Now we wait." It didn't take very long before the five Konoha ninja's caught up with us. I pulled my katana out of it's sheath, ready for the fight.  
"Oi! You two are part of the Akatsuki-" Kakashi started to yell, but stopped. "Itachi, what are you doing in the Leaf village?" Itachi stayed silent. Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed, then glanced at me. "I didn't know there were any females in the Akatsuki. Your name?"  
"Aoi." I called. I stood up from my fighting stance.  
"Why are you here?" So now that he couldn't get information out of Itachi, did he think I would be a pushover and tell him our mission.  
"That's classified Akatsuki information. Not something you weaklings need to know." I chuckled.  
"Weaklings!" Cried Naruto. "I'm no weakling! I'm going to be the Hokage of the Konoha village one day!" I rolled my eyes.  
"Yeah. Someone like you could never accomplish that! Your people wouldn't accept a jinchuriki like you. They're too afraid of you." I guessed my words were true, because he looked down at the ground.  
"How do you know about the thing inside of me?" He growled. I was barely able to hear him from this distance.  
"The Akatsuki know many things. But the time for talking is done." I looked to Itachi, whom nodded. I watched as his eyes turned from the normal dark color, to the well known ability of the Uchiha clan- the sharingan.  
"Looks like this is going to get serious..." Kakashi noted. He pulled his mask down, revealing the same power as Itachi. But unlike Itachi's sharingan, Kakashi only had it in one eye. I shrugged the questions filling my mind off, and turned back to the enemy.  
"Here they come..." I muttered sharply. The Naruto kid came at me first. I kind of expected him to, since I insulted him and made him angry. He threw a kunai at me, where I moved out of it's path. It landed on the ground with a clatter. "Is that all you got?" I asked, turning back around to face the kid. He was now running at me, with a spinning, blue, orb looking thing in the palm of his hand.  
"What IS that?" I gasped. 'So that's why he threw the kunai... To distract me.' I thought. I dove out of the way, but not before the jutsu hit me square in the arm. I went flying backwards a few feet. My arm throbbed with pain as I stood back up. Itachi threw a wild glance at me.  
"Are you alright?" "Fine." I winced at the pain, then looked around for my katana. I had dropped it when I tried to escape his technique. I spotted it a few feet from me, and I raced to grab it before Naruto could do anything. "What was that?" I asked him, looking him in the eye.  
"The rasengan." He chuckled. "Still think I'm a weakling?" He grinned.  
"Heh." The pain in my arm was beginning to dull, although it was still noticeable. "Just because that technique is powerful, doesn't mean it's user is. I say that technique is too much for you to handle." I scoffed. Naruto clenched his fists together angrily, and bit his lip in frustration. "Naruto, calm down." Tenzo, or Yamato, said. Naruto looked at him through the corner of his eye, then looked back at me. I could hear Itachi fighting someone behind me. I turned my head slightly so I could see who it was. It was that Kakashi guy.  
"So, are we going to fight, or are we just going to sit here and talk like we're in a meeting, Jinchuriki."  
"Shut up!" Naruto snapped. Sakura stepped beside, her face masked with anger and agitation.  
"Don't talk to Naruto like that!" Her voice was cold and bitter. Sai came up behind Naruto.  
"I still don't know exactly what friendship is, but I do know that Naruto is my friend. And no one treats him that way." He said. I simply laughed.  
"So, are you two also going to be my opponents?" I asked. They nodded, and I grinned.  
"Well then, let's get this show on the road!"

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**How was this? There will be more fighting in the next chapter. Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, but I've been so busy this past week with Christmas and visiting.**

**Itachi: Since when have I been more... talkative? **

**Me: Since now!**

**Itachi: ...**

**Aoi: Heh.. This is getting interesting...**

**Itachi: I'm not going to fall in love with her, am I?**

**Me: Maybeeee........**

**Itachi: *Glares***

**Me: Hehe... Read! Review!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five.  
Sakura lunged at me with her fists clenched. Did she expect to take me down with a simple punch? I dodged out of the way, and watched in amazment as Sakura's fist connected with the stone ground. A crater formed, with rocks flying in a directions. My eyes widened at the impact of her punch. She was strong!  
"My turn...!" I shouted, leaping into the air. "Katon Endan!" I shouted again. A stream of fire shot from my mouth and shot towards Sakura. The fire was quick, and it managed to hit Sakura. "Score." I said to myself. I waited for the fire to fade away, so I could see if she was hurt or not. When the fire disapeared, I gasped in surprise. There, lying on the ground, was a log. "Crap! Substitution jutsu!" I grumbled to myself. I looked around, but I couldn't see the three teens anywhere. They weren't anywhere in sight. "If they're not to my right, left, or behind me, they must be..." I looked towards the sky. "Up!" There, on the back of a large bird, stood Naruto, Sakura, and Sai. Another kunai came at me, but this time there was an exploding note attached to it. It was already starting to burn, and it would explode any minute now.  
"Darn!" I shouted. I didn't have time to do a substitution, so I readied myself for the blow. The blow sent me falling backwards. I kept rolling, until I hit a rock. "Is that all?" Naruto called out to me. "For someone in the Akatsuki you're pretty weak."  
"Shut up." I snapped.  
"Just repaying the favor." He chuckled.  
"So, your a fire user?" I heard Itachi say from behind me. I looked slightly behind me, and saw Itachi standing behind me. He held his hand down to me. I reached up and let him help me up.  
"Thanks." I muttered, slightly embarassed. Itachi turned back to Kakashi, so I turned back to the trio.  
"Heh. I was just holding back on you guys." I narrowed my eyes. "Now I'm going to get serious."  
"Pfft. Bring it on. I'm not scared, since I'm going to be Hokage one day! Believe it!"  
"You could never become the Hokage." I spat bitterly. "Like I said before, you would never be accepted by the people of the Hidden Leaf." I moved swiftly, attempting to get behind them. If I could manage to do it without beind detected, then maybe, just maybe, I could win this. I drew my katana in front of my, and managed to get to the left of the dark haired boy before they caught on to what I was doing. He pulled out a long scroll and a paint brush, quickly painting a picture of many small birds. Sai formed a hand seal, then glared up at me.  
"Choujuu Giga!" The birds on the scroll came to life, flying at me, screeching and pecking at me with their beaks. I lashed out with my Katana, slicing two in half. They burst into ink and landed on the ground.  
"Why rely on your pictures to fight, when you can use your own strength!" I cried.  
"That is my strength!" He fake smiled at me.  
"Fire style: Twin Dragons of the Flame!" I performed a few hand seals, and then blew outwards. Two large dragons made of fire burst forward, surrounding the three Leaf nin. The air was filled with the roars of the two dragons. I glanced back to Itachi. "We can't with this!" I shouted over the roar of the twin dragons. He nodded. "I know." "Then lets get out of here!" I growled. "The mission was to find information, and we got it. Our mission is finished." A sudden screech from the air took us by surprise. We looked up, only to see Deidara sitting atop one of his clay birds. "Pein said that you guys might need help. Guess he was right, Yeah." Deidara chuckled.  
"Deidara-san!" I shouted. He smiled at me, then reached inside his cloak. When he pulled it back out, I realized he was making bombs. What was he planning to do, blow us up!  
"Itachi, Aoi! Quick, Hn!" He cried, before throwing the clay bombs to the ground. Itachi and I jumped, and the large bird swooped down so we could get onto it's back. When we were safely crouching on the back of the giant clay owl, Deidara glanced down at the shinobi on the ground. "Idiots..." He mumbled, then set off the bombs. Each one created a large explosion. I noticed Itachi had re-activated his sharingan, and was staring down at the ground.  
"Did they escape?" I asked. All he did was nod.  
"Shoot..." I murmured, staring down into the rising dust, trying to get a glimpse of the Konoha ninjas. As we were flying into the distance and the dust cleared, I could distinctly make out four figures standing on the uneven earth, watching us as we flew away.  
Itachi deactivated his sharingan, and sat down on the owl's back, crossing his legs, then turning around. I looked up at Deidara, who chuckled silently. He bent down to whisper in my ear.  
"He's just pissed that you guys had to flee the fight, yeah. He doesn't like losing." I smiled. "I can see what you mean." I replied, and sat down. Deidara plunked down beside me.  
"By the way, what did you do to him? He usually doesn't talk much, hn..." Deidara trailed off when Itachi turned and gave the former Rock shinobi a murderous glare. "Fine, fine!" Deidara was silent for a few more minutes, but then his eyes lit up and he reached into his pocket to dig for something. "Oh yeah! Pein told me to give you this. He forgot to give it to you yesterday." He handed me a ring, with the kanji sign 'three', on it. "That used to belong to Hidan, but then some Konoha chuunin killed him so... it belongs to you now."  
"Thanks." I said, then slipped the ring onto my right index finger. I sat there for a few minutes, holding my hand up and examinging the right. It just fit me. After I was done looking at my finger, I noticed that Itachi was staring at me.  
"What?" I growled.  
"Nothing. The ring suits you." He said in a monotone before turning back around. I raised an eyebrow at Deidara. He just shrugged.

~*~

We arrived back at the base by dawn. The first rays of the sun were just coming up over the horizon. They fell across the land, and hit the soaring owl that us three were perched upon. Itachi, Deidara, and I were sleeping, but when the rays of light shone on my face, it woke me from my slumber. I sat up from the curled position I was in, and stretched, only to realize how I had been sleeping. Itachi and Deidara were laying on either side of me, one of their arms each strewn across from where I had been laying. A slight blush swept across my cheeks, and I knew my face got even redder when I noticed that Deidara and Itachi were awake, both staring at me with intent eyes. I could feel the heat in my cheeks when Deidara asked, "Sleep well, sweet cheeks?" "Just fine." I grumbled, standing up and looking towards the direction of the base. It was only a few hundred yards away now. We landed just outside the base, and when we had leaped off of the back of the bird, it dissapeared in a cloud of smoke. Not bothering to wait for the other two, I walked forward, eagar to have a nice hot shower, and get into some comfy clothes and rest. I pushed the door to the Akatsuki base open, and was nearly tackled down by an overly excited Tobi. "Hi Aoi-chan! How was your mission?" He asked me. "Calm down Tobi." Itachi walked through the door and glared at him, before turning his head to glare at Deidara some more. I sighed, then smiled at him. "It was good." I replied. "Want something to eat?" Konan glided through the door, and smiled at me. I shook my head no. "I think I'm going to take a shower, then have a little nap." I glanced back at Deidara and Itachi, who were having a staredown. Konan followed my gaze. "What's up with them?" She whispered to me, eyebrow raised.  
"Who knows. They're men." I chuckled, then headed down the hall in the direction of the bathroom. The only thing I didn't like about the base was that there were eight people, and only one bathroom.  
I closed the door behind me, and shrugged out of my cloak and clothes. The air in the bathroom left goosebumps on my arms, as I turned the hot water tap on and waited for it to warm up. When it did, I jumped into the shower. The warm water made the goosebumps go away, and I just stood there for a moment, taking in how good the hot water felt. I was so absorbed in my own little world that I didn't even notice that someone had slipped into the bathroom, and then jumped into the shower with me. I gasped when strong hands grasped my hips and pushed me to the wall. I blushed, seeing a naked Deidara pinning me to the wall. He had a wide grin on his face, and before I was barly able to register what was going on, he was kissing me. "Deidara, what the hell?!" I growled, trying to push him away. But I only failed. He used one arm to pin me to the wall, while his other hand slid down my stomache, and then up again. I shuddered, but with pleasure. Sighing, I gave in. Although I wasn't going to have sex with him. For one, he didn't have a condom, and two, I just met him. While his hand traveled up and down my body, stopping occasionally to knead my breast with his hand, he was kissing my neck, collarbone, and shoulder. I took the time to examine- no, I think the way I was looking would be called oogling, his well toned mucsles. I reached forward to trace the contours of his chest, amazed at how this skinny looking man could be so mucsular.  
His kisses led back up to my mouth, where his tounge licked the length of my lower lip, and back again, asking for entrance. I parted my lips, and faught with his tounge for dominance. He won, of course. But this was as far as I wanted to go. I placed both of my hands on his chest, and applied pressure to them, managing to push him slightly away.  
"Deidara, enough." I sighed. He just grinned. "Alright, Nn. But I will get my chance." "That's for me to decide." I smiled at him. "Now get out." I pointed in the direction of the door. "I'm going, I'm going." He pulled his cloak back on, not bothering to put anything else on under it, and then headed out the door. I sighed, and went back to relaxing.  
I got out of the shower an hour later, to find Sasori standing outside. He was grumbling about how girls take so long in the bathroom. I ignored him, and headed to my room. Tobi heard me come out of the bathroom, and raced down the hall to see me. Before he could say anything, I turned on him.  
"Tobi, I'm going in my room. And no, I'm not hungry now." I said before walking into my room and closing the door on him. I let out an exasperated sigh as I fell down onto my bed. It was a lot more comfy then lying on the clay bird that I had slept on last night. Even though it was still morning, I was tired, and my arm hurt from the attack I had recieved from Naruto. I got up from the bed, opening one of the drawers in the dresser. It was filled with clothes, ranging from clothes for missions, to ones for relaxing around the base. I decided to just wear a pair of dark blue sweatpants, with a white t-shirt. I layed back down on my bed, putting my arms behind my head, and crossing my ankles. Just as I was beginning to doze off, there was a knock on my door. "Who is it?" 'I snapped, annoyed that someone was inturupting my sleeping time.  
"Itachi." A low voice said. I sat upright quickly. "Come in!" He strod in, wearing nothing but a pair of long, black pants, and a regular black t-shirt with netting around the neck and the bottom of the sleeves. "Were you sleeping?" He asked, about to turn back to the door.  
"No. What do you want?" I asked, crossing my legs.  
"You wanted to hear about my past, did you not? And you had some questions." He replied. An imaginary light appeared above my head.  
"Oh, yeah!" I patted the bed beside me, motioning for him to come over. Itachi shut the door, and strode over to the bed, sitting down beside me.  
"So, where do you want me to begin?"

**AN : Yeah, that wasn't really a slight lemon... just Deidara and Aoi making out and touching each other. There MIGHT be a real lemon in later chapters, but that depends on how many reviews I get, and who you guys want Aoi to be with. :3 R & R**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I need some help on naming the chapters, so if you have an ideas, please either review and tell me, or send me a message with your ideas, :3**

Chapter six.  
I pondered on this for a moment. "Tell me about your brother." I tilted my head to the side, still gazing at him. When he glanced over at me, about to speak, his eyes narrowed.  
"Why do you have a hickey on your neck?" He asked, leaning forward to press on the small red mark that I didn't know was there. Damn that Deidara.  
"Oh, uh... nothing." I lied.  
"I can tell your lieing." He murmured. I simply sighed.  
"Fine then. I was in the shower and Deidara came in. He got in with me and starting kissing me and stuff. Now just get on with the story." I replied, a bit annoyed. Why was he acting so protective?  
Itachi was still staring at my neck, where I assumed the hickey was, and shook his head. But he dropped the subject, and after a few more moments of staring at the spot, he sat up straight and began telling me his story.  
"My parents were Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha. I only had one sibling; Sasuke. I was the... well, lets just say I was my fathers favorite. He hardly paid any attention to Sasuke at all. If my mother wasn't around, then he probably would have run away." He paused lost in deep thought. I interrupted him with a question.  
"Why did you leave Konoha?" The question was barely a whisper, like we were around other people, and I didn't want them to hear what we were saying.  
"When I was about thirteen, a little while before I killed the Clan, the Hokage and other council members made me a spy. It turns out that the Uchiha Clan had wanted to overthrow the current leader. To stop this, I was given a special mission; to wipe out every member in the Clan, excluding myself. I did it, because... I was loyal to my village. And a ninja is loyal to his mission. But when it came to Sasuke, I couldn't kill him. He was my little brother, and I loved him. And I still do..." Itachi paused, a sad look entering his eyes. "Before I fled the village, I made the third Hokage swear that he would make sure Sasuke was safe, and never be told of what truly happened. And that I would be fully blamed for this situation. He reluctantly agreed." The Uchiha looked up at me. I hadn't realized there were tears in my eyes, until he gaze me a small smile. "It's alright. I'm fine, even though the younger brother I love so much wants to kill me..."  
I wiped the tears from my eyes, thinking about this. If I had any siblings, I'd be sad too if they hated me, and wanted to kill me.  
"Where is he now?" I asked.  
"Ever hear of the three sannin?" I nodded my head. "He is training under Orochimaru." Itachi's tone was now thick with an emotion I couldn't identify. My eyes widened. Orochimaru, one of the three great Sannin?  
"I'm sorry..." I whispered. Itachi looked up at me.  
"For what?" He asked, a puzzled look on his face.  
"I don't know. Because you had to kill your whole Clan, and your little brother who you care for so much, wants to kill you with his own hands..."  
"It's ok." He told me quietly. We stopped talking for a while, just sitting there in the silence.  
"Do you have any more questions?" He asked.  
"How come that Kakashi guy had a sharingan in only one eye?" I asked.  
"When he was about twelve, his team went out on a mission, and his friend was part of the Uchiha Clan, but he was crushed by a bunch of falling rocks. Just before he died, he gave Kakashi his left sharingan as a gift." Itachi stretched out on his back, his legs hanging off of the bed. I furrowed my eyebrows.  
"How is that possible?"  
"Their other team mate knew medical ninjutsu."  
"Oh." It became silent after that, each of us waiting for the other to say something. Finally, Itachi broke the silence.  
"Why was Deidara in the shower with you?" He asked, tilting his head to look at me. I looked towards the floor, not being able to hold his gaze.  
"I don't know. I guess I forgot to lock the door... Why does it matter?" I asked in an annoyed voice. What did it matter to him who was in the shower with me, even though Deidara had no reason to be.  
"It doesn't." He replied back, using the same tone I had used. "I was just wondering."  
"No, seriously Itachi! Why does it matter to you?" I was beginning to get frustrated. I glared at him, making a feeble attempt at forcing him to tell me. "You brought it up, so why do you want to know?" No reply.  
I narrowed my eyes, wondering why my partner refused to tell me. We were comrades now, right? Itachi stayed silent, simply gazing up at me from his position on the bed. We stayed like this, until a sudden knock on the door made us jump. Well, just me. Itachi only glanced at the door, like he knew someone was coming.  
"Who is it?" I called. The person opened the door, and popped their head in. It was Kisame, and boy, did he not look happy.  
"Aoi, do you know why, when I went outside, a hawk just randomly swooped down from the sky and landed on my shoulder?" He asked, stepping into the room. There was a brown hawk perced on his shoulder, and when it saw me, it flew off of his shoulder and landed on mine.  
"It probably thought you were sushi..." I mumbled. Kisame glared back at me.  
"What was that!? Why if I get my hands-"  
"Kisame, enough." Itachi snapped, clearly annoyed. He then turned back to me. "Why did he land on Kisame's shoulder?"  
"This is Kin. He is a special hawk I raised since the day he hatched. He helps me send messages to different countries, and brings them back." I explained to the two confused shinobi. "Right now I'm talking back and forth with some comrades back in the Rock village. They are secretly against the Tsuchikage."  
"Have you told them of our location?" Itachi asked.  
"Of course not. They know that I have joined the Akatsuki, but I have not told them of our location. I am going to ask Pein if I can return to the Hidden Rock to assassinate the leader there." I sighed. "But it won't be that easy. They know I will return, and when I do, they will be ready. There will be many deaths the day I return to the village." Kisame laughed.  
"I'm starting to like you, Aoi. I think we could become good friends." I just smiled and nodded.  
"I think so too."  
"Well, see ya." He waved as he turned and walked back down the hall, probably going back outside.  
"Now, let's see what my friends have sent me this time." I said, pulling a piece of paper out from the band on Kin's foot. As I read it, my eyes furrowed.  
"What does it say?" Itachi sat up, leaning towards me so he could try to read the message. Before he could read it, I crumbled it up in my fist.  
"My friends were caught talking about what we were going to do. They were all killed." I replied in a quiet voice. "The Hidden Rock village has raised the bounty on my head to 300 million ryou."  
"That's not too bad.." I felt Itachi place a hand on my arm, trying to what I think was sympathize with me. Anger welled up inside of me.  
"I don't care about the bounty! It's the fact that my comrades were killed..." I gritted my teeth. Quickly, I pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen. Scribbling a message onto it, I tucked it neatly inside the band on Kin. "To water country." I murmured to the bird. He rose into the air, and flew out of the room.  
"Why water country?"  
"I have some comrades in the Mist village. I'm sending a help message, telling them to meet me at the abandoned city in Fire country." The anger inside me died down.  
"Pein will never allow you to leave." Itachi told me. I narrowed my eyes again.  
"I don't give a damn whether he lets me leave or not. I'm going!" I snapped. "So keep it quiet!"  
"Please Aoi. Don't. You'll get in a lot of trouble." For a moment, it sounded like there was a hint of plea in Itachi's voice, but a second later, it changed back into his usual monotone.  
"I have to do this. For my dead comrades." I shoved his hand off of my arm, and glared at him. We locked eyes for a minute, before I looked away. Why couldn't I keep his gaze?  
"Then I'm going with you..." His reply shocked me.  
"Y-you can't!" I hissed. "They were my comrades! I will avenge them. Just me!"  
"I don't care." He muttered.  
"Well I do! Itachi, please?" I begged. I tryed to make eye contact with him myself, but he would just look away. Finally, he sighed.  
"Alright." It was barly more then a whisper.  
"Thank you." I replied. Standing up, I pulled my cloak over my clothes, grabbed my katana, and put my hitai-ate around my neck. As I was heading out the door, I felt Itachi grab my wrist.  
"Wait..." He said quietly.  
"What is it?" I said, a bit irritated. He had held me back enough, and now it was time for me to go. My thoughts froze when the Uchiha leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes widened, and I didn't know what to do. Unlike when Deidara had kissed me, I didn't kiss back. I was in too much shock.  
The kiss didn't last long, Itachi pulling back his head a bit to gaze tenderly into my eyes.  
"Be safe." He said. All I could do was nod, and walk out the door.

**A/N: *points to button* REVIEW! ^_^**


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